CRITICISM directed at K-Electric, which once used to be the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC), is nothing out of the ordinary. To be honest, power-related hiccups have been the bane of citizens’ lives from the time the Sindh capital’s burgeoning population forced the age-old supply and demand issue to rear its head.

For example, on Sept 1, 1970 about 100 resident of New Karachi staged a rally in front of the KESC head office demanding power connections at the rates equivalent to those of Wapda’s. They were carrying banners and chanting the slogan “concessional electric connections”. Lt Gen Rakhman Gul, governor of Sindh at the time, who was passing along Abdullah Haroon Road, stopped and met the protesters. He assured them that their grievances would be redressed.

Did it cut any ice with the electricity authorities? Not sure. In fact, on Sept 4 power outage in different neighbourhoods of Karachi caused trouble to residents. The breakdown was reported in the evening and late in the night from Sindhi Muslim Society, PECHS, Gurumandir, Amil Colony and Soldier Bazaar. The period when it went dark in those areas was one hour to two-and-a-half hours long. KESC engineers reasoned that the problem occurred because of the switching over of the load supplied from the Korangi generators because underground cables at Elander Road and Drigh Road were being repaired after getting affected by recent rains.

Interestingly, the corporation in those days, apart from performing its duty, was engaged in a noble deed. On Aug 31, A.K.M. Hafizuddin, minister for industries and natural resources, received from the KESC three cheques worth Rs55,000 for the President’s East Pakistan Relief Fund. (Heavy floods in those days had wreaked havoc on the eastern wing of the country.) The cheques were presented by retired Brig S.A. Kirmani, managing director of the corporation, which itself donated Rs30,000 of the total figure while the KESC Officers Association and its Labour Union gave Rs5,000 and Rs20,000, respectively.

It seems that there was no shortage of staff at the KESC in the 1970s. But that wasn’t the case in general. On Sept 2, more than three dozen office-bearers of Karachi’s college unions in a joint statement appealed to the governor of Sindh to appoint a manpower commission for Sindh to look into the causes of the growing unemployment in the province. They also asked for setting up of employment exchange centres in the region.

The next day, Sept 3, the members of the unions presented a memorandum to the governor, Lt Gen Rakhman Gul, containing their demands.

They informed Gen Gul about the employment campaign launched by the students and the support extended to them by the principals, professors and the economists of the country.

Since Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s death anniversary fell on Sept 11, the Pakistan Movement Research Centre at National College decided to observe Quaid-i-Azam week. Speaking on its inaugural day on Sept 5, Mohtarma Shireen Bai, a sister of the founder of Pakistan, said: “It is our duty to fully acquaint our new generation with the life and achievements of the Quaid. If we forget our beloved leader, we’d be doing injustice to the very ideology of Pakistan.

We shall have to follow his guidelines to achieve our national goals.” Golden words.

Published in Dawn, September 1st, 2020